D for Durgapur

 Last weekend, I traveled back in time, to a city where you would find Johnson babies, ceiling fans that still change voltage from time to time, wooden almirahs, yellow lights that attract insects, whistles at midnight, desserts that are served in a Cerelac bowl, tube lights that switch on with a flicker, restaurants that receive phone calls to take orders, and a father who can still handle spicy food. 


It's still a city, but just a little less of it. 


As nostalgia slowly hits you, you realize you are old enough to be nostalgic. You realize with a snap that there was a pre-COVID. You witnessed a time when Snapdeal was a thing, 9Xm was a thing, and Imran Khan was a thing. And the fact that it is not just post-Jio, but also post Shahid's chocolate boy phase. You realize every generation will have their own Don, and you have already had yours. 


Maybe this time you too experienced an unknown Durgapur, not the one you packed in a suitcase when you left for Kolkata. 

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